Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa prompts the question "What is the point of most animated movies these days?"

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Adults are past being amazed by special effects, and the kids I know would be equally happy watching an old DVD a million times.

The best animated films have some message beyond just friendship, loyalty and being yourself, but that's about all one can glean from this shiny sequel.

Still trying to make it back to New York City, Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) wind up in Africa and hang with their family tribes.

The animation's impressive and the voice cast talented. But beyond the setting, there's nothing that hasn't been done a million times before, which means the sole point here is that the 2005 original made money.